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 Nate Adams |
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 Beau Bamburg |
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 Mike Mason |
Nate Adams: 4 Time Gold
by Jimmy Coleman
For the 4th straight year in a row, the Fairplex in Pomona is more than just home to the LA County Fair, it’s also home to the LG Action Sports World Championships of Freestyle Motocross. The big question on everyone’s mind this year was, would Nate Adams get a 4th straight title, or would a new champion be crowned.
The format was slightly different this year. Instead of having a prelim and a final, there was a 15 rider final. Each rider received one run, and only the top 8 made it to the second run.
The silver medal finalist from the last 3 years, Jeremy 'Twitch' Stenberg was out of the lineup due to injury, as was the ringleader of the Metal Mulisha, Brian Deegan. That left the door wide open for the rest of the pack.
San Diego’s Jeremy Lusk got off to an early lead in the first round, with lots of combo moves, good extension, and the first backflips of the night. Mike Mason from Minden, Nevada, threw down several backflip variations of his own, and had some good combo lines that put him on top and bumped Jeremy Lusk down to 2nd. His hopes of qualifying first were short lived when Beau Bamburg took to the course. Beau was one of the first riders to flip from dirt to dirt, and also pulled an impressive “cordova flip”. Nate Adams was the last man to ride in the first round. He was off to an impressive start, but bobbled mid-run after over-shooting a landing on a transfer. That seemed to throw off Nate’s concentration, and he qualified 5th.
The final round started off with a video tribute to the late Jeremy Carter. After the tribute and a few silent moments, it was time for the show to go on. Nineteen-year old Wiley Fullmer of Chino, California, attacked the course with high speed lines that put him on the hot seat. He would not stay there long. Nate Adams started off his second run with a cliffhanger, a move some thought was a little conservative. The run soon went from conservative to ballistic as he followed up the cliffhanger with a cordova backflip. Nate tried a unique transfer line in his first run, but he overshot the landing. In his second out, he made the transfer clean, and fired off a nac-nac to heel clicker backflip. The judges rewarded this run with a 92.80, and Nate was the man to beat. After Nate’s second run, only 4 riders stood between him and a 4th straight LG world title.
Robbie Maddison had a decent 2nd run, but a few short landings and straight jumps left him in 6th.
Jeremy Lusk tried to improvise from his 1st run, but ended up with an 85.40, a full point lower than his 1st run score. That left him in 5th.
Mike Mason qualified in 2nd place for the first round, and second place was where he would stay after round 2. Mike went for more backflips and crazy combos, but it wasn’t enough to take the hot seat from Nate Adams.
It all came down to Beau Bamberg. With Adams being the only rider to score in the 90s, Beau’s work was cut out for him. Beau started off strong, much like his first run, but after repeat tricks in the 3-pack, and a few straight jumps, his hopes of victory had dwindled. His run however, was good enough for a bronze medal.
Even with Jeremy Stenberg, and Brian Deegan out of the lineup, the fans still got quite an eyeful at the Fairplex in Pomona. Nate Adams extends his streak to 4 straight, and the FMX world will have to wait another year to attempt to crown a new world champion.
